Cape Town - The South African Human Rights Commission has found toilets in some informal settlements in Gugulethu are a health risk and that the “crisis” needs urgent attention.
This is one of the issues the commission plans to raise when it meets mayor Patricia De Lille in two weeks to discuss the city’s sanitation delivery programme.
Officials from the commission led by provincial manager Melanie Lue-Dugmore inspected toilets in Kanana, Barcelona and Europe, all in Gugulethu, on Friday.
In the last month, the city’s sanitation delivery has been thrust into the spotlight by several protests by informal settlement residents.
Because council cleaning staff had been attacked and intimidated, De Lille discontinued services to the three areas.
Commission spokesman Isaac Mangena said officials found that sanitation in these areas was in “crisis”.
“The commission is deeply concerned about the state of sanitation in these areas and believes that the crisis poses a significant health risk, particularly to vulnerable communities,” he said.
Mangena said officials noted that there were no proper sanitation facilities in some of the areas they visited. They were told by residents that there had been no waste collection since April 2 because of a strike by a city contractor, Sannicare.
“This has resulted in an accumulation of waste, which needs urgent attention and intervention,” Mangena said.
“It must be noted that the commission has received complaints from communities regarding the proposed alternatives, portable flush toilets.
“They argue that these alternatives pose similar challenges as the current bucket system and may continue to pose health risks and violate the dignity of users.”
Mangena said the commission would also hold talks with the national and provincial government, the public protector and civil society organisations to find a solution to the problem.
The eradication of the bucket system was something that should be looked at nationally and not only at a provincial level, Mangena said.
Sonnenberg said the city welcomed an opportunity to engage with the commission.
He would not comment on its findings, but would wait until he had read its report.
De Lille said the city was committed to providing residents with “the highest level of service possible, including access to dignified sanitation”. She would not comment on the commission’s findings, but denied there was a crisis.
Meanwhile, residents of the Bonnytoun informal settlement in Wynberg say their chemical toilets have not been cleaned in a month.
Speaking for the residents, Colin Arendse said city contractors had ignored the toilets and burst sewerage pipes had not been repaired in six months.
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